The 4 Types of Food Waste in Professional Kitchens

Food waste isn’t one problem. It’s four!
Do you know where it’s really happening in your kitchen?

Most people think of food waste as just “leftovers.” But in professional kitchens, waste comes in 4 very different forms, and each one needs a different solution:

1. Preparation Waste: trimmings, peelings, mistakes in cooking
2. Spoilage Waste: expired or spoiled stock due to poor storage or over-ordering
3. Plate Waste: what comes back uneaten from customers
4. Overproduction Waste: perfectly safe food prepared in excess (common in buffets, banquets, hotels)

Why it matters:
Without understanding the type of waste, any effort to reduce it is just guesswork.

The first step to real savings is measuring waste by category. Once you see where the problem is, you can fix it.

At FoodFlow, this is exactly what we help professional kitchens do. Turn invisible waste into visible savings.